


More Bronte/Emery fanfic, but this time it's a band au

by Hopelessly_Queer



Series: Bronte/Emery Fics. Don't Judge Me [2]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, And Bronte is half-korean, But i cannot use the "no beta we die like kenric" tag, Emery is Desi, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love you kenric but you're very white, M/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Canon Relationship, but neither of them know it, i have a beta!!, thank you lynnette!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopelessly_Queer/pseuds/Hopelessly_Queer
Summary: In which I write a really self-indulgent fic about Emery joining a band and falling in love with Bronte.(slow updates)
Relationships: Councillor Bronte/Councillor Emery (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
Series: Bronte/Emery Fics. Don't Judge Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848679
Comments: 19
Kudos: 26





	1. In which emery gets roped into things by kenric and also thinks bronte is hot

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: all characters are in college. Emery is getting a degree in music education because he gives off the vibe of a vaguely queer band director.

“Shit.” Emery’s guitar string snapped. He opened his drawers and dug through. None left. He could’ve sworn he’d bought guitar strings. Maybe he’d misplaced them. That wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. (1)

“What’s wrong?” Kenric asked, looking up from his phone.

“Guitar string broke. You have any extra.?”

“Dude, I play the drums.”

Emery shrugged. “Worth a try. I can head over to the music store before my next class.” 

Emery checked his phone. Forty-five minutes until his class. If he spent fifteen minutes getting to the store, five minutes in the store, and fifteen minutes to get back, he’d be in the classroom with time to replace the broken guitar strings.

He put his guitar in the case and slung it over his shoulder. “Kay, I’m heading out. Do you need anything from the music store?”

“I’m good.” 

Emery waved goodbye and headed out of their apartment.

***

Finding the guitar stings only took about a minute. Emery frequented this place so much that he knew the layout like the back of his hand. He took one pack of guitar strings off the shelf. Then another. He didn’t have the energy to come back here more than necessary. 

He approached the cashier, not really bothering to pay attention. He placed the guitar strings on the counter.

The cashier scanned the barcodes.

“Will that be all?” The cashier asked.

Emery was forced to meet the cashier’s eyes now, or else it would be rude.

Oh.

The cashier had really stunning eyes. They were a deep grey-blue. Actually, the cashier himself was stunning. Emery sucked in a breath.

The cashier cleared his throat.

Emery was shot back into reality like a missile. “Yes?” His voice came out harsh and rude. 

“Will that be all?” 

Shit. Shit. *Shit.* Had he really just been staring at a random stranger? And now he seemed like a creep. Brilliant.

“Umm, yeah. That’s it,” Emery muttered. He looked back down, not willing to meet the cute cashier’s eyes anymore. He wanted to move to a hole somewhere and then die in it. 

Emery swiped his card and entered his pin.

“Would you like a bag?”

“No. I can hold it.” 

The cashier handed Emery the guitar strings and Emery stumbled out.

This was why he should never be let outside, ever.

***

Emery glared at Kenric as he continued to laugh.

“Why do you feel the need to laugh at my suffering?”

“Cause you’re hopeless.”

Emery rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you kinda hypocritical?” 

“How so?”

“You haven’t had a girlfriend in like, three years.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong.”

“You asked someone out?”

Kenric smiled. “Oralie!” He did really shitty jazz-hands.

Emery mimicked the jazz-hands and his tone. “Who is that?”

“You know. . . The pretty blond girl in the theatre department?”

“Not narrowing it down.” Emery pulled out his guitar to start tuning it.

Kenric frowned.

“What?”

“Do you not like people?”

“Like, all people? No. I like my parents. . . sometimes and you’re chill.” Emery went back to tuning his guitar. 

Kenric sighed. 

Emery glared at him. “If you have something to say, say it.”

“Nevermind.”

***

When Emery returned to his apartment a short, blonde girl was sitting in the living room. 

“Are you a thief?” he asked, attempting to shove his guitar in the closet so that it wouldn’t get hurt if the blond girl attacked him. 

“What?”

“You’re a bad one. We’re college students. We have no money. But if you go down the street, there are these rich assholes that don’t care about labor rights. They fired, like half of their employees last year for trying to unionize.” (2)

“I’m not a thief.”

Emery narrowed his eyes. “Are we getting evicted? Shit. Did Kenric not turn in the rent?”

“We’re getting evicted?!” Kenric called from the other room. 

Emery heard a thud then Kenric stumbled out without his shirt on.

“Oh gosh,” Emery said, realizing that this must be Oralie. “Well, apparently not. And we talked about not hooking up in the apartment. Gosh!”

“Oh, no we didn’t hook up.” 

“Why’s she here then?” Emery decided to sit down opposite to Oralie. 

“I’m recruiting for my band,” Oralie gave him a hesitant smile, probably regretting her decision to ask Emery now that she had met him. “Kenric showed me a recording of you playing your guitar.”

“Umm, I actually have other band offers,” Emery said. It wasn’t a lie. And he assumed that Oralie had asked Kenric to be in the band. He wasn’t in the business to be in a band with a couple in it.

“I think you’ll want this one,” Kenric was still smiling his very Straight smile. 

“Why?” Emery wondered if he was going to be bribed. Actually, if he was, he’d take it. Hid job only paid minimum wage.

“We have a bass player!” Oralie clapped her hands once. (3)

Oh. Well, that was new. Bass players were like a rare breed of birds. He had met, like, one in his life. And he was a music education student.

“See!” Kenris said.

“And I’m to guess you’re in this band?” Emery asked Kenric.

Kenric nodded.

Well, at least he would know someone. And Oralie seemed fairly quiet, so she wouldn’t be yelling at him the entire time.

“. . .Fine.”

“Yes!!” Kenric yelled. He tackled Emery with a hug. Emery struggled out of his grasp.

“But if it gets out of hand, I get to leave. I haven’t met this other person yet, and I don’t know what kind of music you like.”

Oralie nodded.

“Do we have a groupchat for this band?” Emery asked.

“We can make one. Kenric gave me your number. And I have Bronte’s.”

“Bronte?” 

“The bass player. He’s really good.” Oralie said. 

Emery nodded. He really hoped this wouldn’t turn out horribly.

***

Emery regretted his decision at 2 am when his phone was being blown up. 

Kenric and Oralie were texting back and forth about when they were available to practice. Emery ignored it. And from what he could tell, the bass player-- Bronte --only ever answered with yes or no when they asked if he was open. Emery just muted the chat.

He thought that would be the end when Kenric had decided to call him. He answered the call out of sheer confusion. (4)

“Why did you feel the need to call?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Kenric answered.

“You’re one room away from me. If you spoke slightly too loud, I could hear you.

“Fine, sorry. But I need to ask if you’re free Thursday afternoon?”

“What time?”

“5:30 to seven?”

“I have a class that ends at 5:30. I’ll be a little late, but it should work. Where is it.”

“Oralie’s house. I’ll text you the address.”

“Thanks.”

***

Oralie’s garage could fit Emery’s entire apartment in it. And she lived in it with only one other person. Emery guessed that she probably had rich parents or something.

Oralie and Kenric were ready, so Emery stood in a corner and began tuning his guitar.

A few minutes later he heard footsteps.

“Bronte, you’re late,” Oralie said.

Emery looked up, he had no idea what Bronte looked like.

Oh, shit. It was cute-music-store guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. fyi he owns both an acoustic and electric guitar  
> 2\. look, I know I'm not supposed to injest my political opinions into fanfic, but if you ship Brony, you've probably said eat the rich at least once.  
> 3\. Oralie is 100% soft goth in this au  
> 4\. Kenric is giving off some major himbo energy


	2. In which the band(?) plays songs that match my music taste

Emery let out a strangled noise.

Everyone turned to him. “My, uh. My guitar is really out of tune.” Emery attempted to smile. “I don’t enjoy tuning.”

Oralie turned back to Bronte and began talking again. Emery heard both his and Kenric’s names so he assumed that Oralie was telling Bronte about them, but Emery was too freaked out to be paying much attention.

Kenric shot Emery a look.

Emery waved him over.

“What? Are you okay? You should at least try to play with us before you decide that you hate everyone.”

“No, it’s-” Emery lowered his voice to a whisper-yell. “It’s him!”

“What?”

“It’s him!” Emery repeated. “Cute music store guy.” He made a gesture pointing vaguely in the direction of Bronte. Then immediately regretted it when he saw Bronte look at him with a confused expression.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. Hide me or something.”

“Yes, because attempting to hide you right now when there are only four people in the room is definitely going to draw attention away from you and not at all going to be obvious.”

“What should I do then?”

“Act normal.”

“What if he recognizes me.”

“He’s not going to recognize you.”

“How do you know?”

Kenric looked like he was trying not to laugh. “As someone that worked in the service industry for three years, I can tell you with confidence that I don’t remember a single customer, so chill out.”

Emery began to protest, but Oralie spoke first. “Are you done tuning?” she said. Emery jumped. He wondered how long she’s been listening.

Emery nodded. “Yeah.” Emery had actually finished tuning before Bronte arrived, but he needed an excuse. He stood up with his guitar. “Is everyone else ready?”

“Almost,” Oralie said. “Bronte’s just finishing up with tuning. You can warm up while you’re waiting.”

Emery nodded and played through the chromatic scale from the top and then again starting from the low notes. Then, he decided to play an excerpt from Iron Man by Black Sabbath partially to loosen up his wrists and partially to show off. Fine. Mostly to show off. But he had been playing for ten years at this point so he deserved to show off.

Soon, Bronte had finished tuning and walked over to everyone. They were all positioned in a weird semi-circle.

“So,” Oralie said. “We should probably play something everyone knows. Seven Nation Army?”

“Yeah, that works for me,” Kenric said. “And Emery can play the guitar line. What do you think, Bronte?” (1)

“Do I also play the guitar line? There’s no bass in Seven Nation Army.”

Oralie nodded.

Kenric counted them off.

Emery and Bronte started playing the guitar line, attempting to stay together-- which wasn’t hard considering Kenric’s role in the song was essentially just keeping time. Emery resisted the urge to stare at Bronte. It was a struggle, but he managed to keep it restricted to the occasional glance masquerading as an attempt to match Bronte’s rhythm.

The song ended and Oralie looked to them with a wide grin. “That was great! I think we’ll work well together.”

“We’ve played one song,” Bronte said.

Emery was thinking the same thing, but he wasn’t about to say it out loud.

“Yes, but Kenric and Emery have played together before and you and I have played together before,” Oralie said. “And I think we sound pretty good together.”

“For the next song, we should probably do something with a more complex drum part for Kenric,” Emery suggested, combing through his mind for ideas. “Like Thunderstruck by AC/DC, maybe?”

“You like AC/DC?” Bronte asked.

“I know, I’m not like other girls. Mostly because I’m a guy.”

“I didn’t expect that from you.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. I prefer Fallout Boy and Panic! At the Disco, but AC/DC is better for us to practice as a band. If we could even be considered one yet.”

“Hm.”

Kenric counted them off again.

This time, Emery paid more attention to Oralie’s vocals which were really impressive. Emery had tried singing Thunderstruck once, but couldn’t hit the notes. He was an Alto and guessed Oralie was a Soprano who could hit lower notes. (2)

By the time the song ended, Emery was sweating. The guitar part in Thunderstruck was honestly more of a workout than a song. He let out a breath. Maybe, the band wouldn’t be too bad.

***

Nope, never mind he hated it now.

Not the actual playing music together part, that went fine. They sounded surprisingly good together. Emery actually had some fun. But Kenric had convinced everyone to go get coffee, which somehow led to them sitting in a booth at Olive Garden-- despite the fact that no one associated it with coffee-- crushed against the wall, with Bronte next to him and both of their instruments at the end of the booth's seat. He was far closer to Bronte than was his comfort.

Although, it was better than sitting next to Kenric and Oralie who had exactly no air in between them undeterred by the plethora of room on their side of the table. Even being this far away from them, it was a challenge not to throw up.

So far, the four of them had only spoken a few words after arriving at the restaurant, a majority of them spoken by Kenric who seemed to be the only one of them that was any good in social situations. But that had ended soon enough when neither Emery nor Bronte had responded with any enthusiasm.

Now, they sat in silence; Emery scrolling through twitter, Kenric and Oralie being ridiculously close to making out, and Bronte sipping his Coke.

Finally, it was broken by Bronte speaking. "So," he said. "How long have you and Oralie been together?" He asked this in the tone of a dad telling his daughter's prom date that "anything you do to her, I do to you." (3)

So he didn't know either. Emery put his phone away, somewhat interested in Kenric's response.

"About five months," Kenric said.

"That long?" Emery asked. "Huh. I assumed it had been shorter since Oralie hasn't been around before this week." And because when he and Kenric had talked, Kenric had made it seem like a new thing.

Kenric shrugged.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Emery?" Oralie asked.

"I'm gay."

"Ah," Oralie said, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Actually, now that you mention it, I think Kenric mentioned it at some point. Do you have a boyfriend, then?"

"Nope. My ex and I broke up a few months ago."

A hint of a smile appeared on Oralie's face. "You know, Bronte doesn't have a boyfriend, either." (4)

Bronte flinched. "Oh, we are not doing this."

"Why not?" Oralie asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief that hadn't been there a moment before.

Bronte just glared.

They had a stare-off that went on for a full minute. It got awkward in half the time. Finally, Bronte looked away, losing the contest.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Bronte said. He stood up. "And when I get back, we're not talking about this." He walked out of the booth and towards the bathroom. Which would've been a dramatic exit, except he tripped over Emery's guitar on his way out of the booth.

The awkward silence returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I found out while researching for this that the iconic baseline in Seven Nation Army was actually a guitar line.  
> 2\. Now is probably a good time to mention that I have a playlist with all the songs mentioned in the fic that I can post on my Tumblr if needed.  
> 3\. Not directly related to anything, but I have a half-Asian Bronte headcanon. Probably Korean. I might add that into the fic next chapter.  
> 4\. . . . Wingman Oralie?


	3. In which emery is forced to talk to bronte in a public bathroom

"So, one of us should talk to him, shouldn't we?" Oralie said.

"Probably you," Emery replied.

"I'd do it, but I don't think Olive Garden has gender-neutral bathrooms."

It didn't. 

Both Oralie and Kenric turned to Emery.

"What?" Emery asked, getting uncomfortable from the intensity and duration of the looks. He hated this. Especially since he didn't like being looked at in general.  
"You should go talk to Bronte," Kenric said.

"What? Why?"

"I can't go into the guy's restroom and Bronte has never really liked interacting with my past boyfriends. You're the one he's least likely to glare at the whole time," Oralie said.

"Yeah, go talk to him. Gay-To-Gay." Kenric backed her up. 

"That's. . . not a thing," Emery said. “It’s not like we have telepathy or anything.”

"That's what you want us to think."

"Why would we-- that's not-- What?" Emery didn't have the energy to deal with this. "Nevermind," he cut off Kenric before he had even started speaking. "I'll go. Just don't say 'Gay-to-Gay' again. Please." He stood up and began walking to the bathroom. 

"It's the other way," Oralie said.

"I knew that." Emery turned around. "I was stretching." He, in fact, wasn't stretching.

Emery made his way to the bathroom. He stood in front of the bathroom door, contemplating what to say when he got inside. He didn't want Bronte to think that he was a stalker or something. He rehearsed under his breath what he was planning to say, "Hi. Oralie and Kenric told me to check on you." He repeated that over and over. After what seemed like the fiftieth repetition, he opened the bathroom door. 

It hit the wall with a loud thud. Emery flinched. The two others in the bathroom-- one Bronte and one a stranger-- turned to look at him.

"Sorry, that was an accident," he muttered. He mentally prayed to whatever being that was listening to kill him now. Unfortunately, no holy spear appeared to stab him.

The stranger finished washing his hands and left the bathroom, leaving Emery alone with Bronte. 

They stood there in silence until Bronte finally said, "if you need to use the restroom, the urinal's right there."

"Actually, Kenric and Oralie wanted me to see if you were alright."

Bronte sighed. "Oralie needs to stop meddling." 

"What do you mean by meddling?" Emery asked. In Emery's opinion, it seemed like a fair request. He just wished he wasn't the one that had to do the talking.

"Nothing. It's nothing," Bronte said. Despite it very clearly not being anything considering he stormed out. "I'm fine. Thanks for checking on me, but you didn't need to." He started walking towards the bathroom’s exit.

“Um. Okay.” 

Emery’s phone pinged. 

Kenric: Oralie had a family situation. Can you and Bronte take an Uber? Oralie said she’ll pay you back the amount you spent. We already paid for the receipt.

Emery sighed. Great, another opportunity to make a fool of himself in front of Bronte.

"What?" Bronte asked. 

"Kenric just told me Oralie had a family situation, so they had to leave. We need to get an Uber." He followed Bronte out of the bathroom and they headed to the parking lot.

Bronte nodded like he understood something Emery didn't. His mouth formed a word, but he seemed to change his mind and instead said. "Together?"

"Probably," Emery said. He tried to hide how much Bronte's tone stung. Honestly, he was kind of mean. Hot, but mean. "Where do you live?"

"In the dorms. Just like you."

"You go to Generic University, too?" Emery asked as he opened up the app and got them an Uber.

"Yeah. Different majors, though. I think we had a child development class together freshman year."

"What's your major?" Emery asked. 

"I'm getting an MFA in English. I'm probably gonna wind up being an English teacher."

"That's cool," Emery said despite the mental image of Bronte talking to a fourteen-year-old about the wonders of Hamlet was hilarious only because of its improbability. "I'm a music education major, so I'll be working with the band kids."

"That's terrifying," Bronte said, looking completely serious.

Emery shrugged. "I can deal with them. I was a former band kid. . . I guess I still am since I frequently annoy Kenric with my saxophone playing at two am." Emery looked down at his phone. The Uber would be there in three minutes."

"I wouldn’t have guessed that you were a band kid?”

“Because I’m Indian,” Emery said, mostly joking. 

“What, no. I’m Asian too, half-Korean, so I get stereotypes.”

Emery examined Bronte's face. “Oh, shit. I see it now.”

Bronte snorted.

“What?” Emery asked.

“That’s what white people usually say.”

“Oh,” Emery did in fact sound like someone who thought who called Asians ‘orientals,’ “Sorry,” he said.

Bronte shrugged. “I’m used to it at this point. I got more of the typically white features.”

“Yeah, but I get the frustration,” Emery said. Of course, he didn’t get the exact feeling since his skin tone kind of got rid of any thought that he could be white, but he had dealt with similar things before. He offered a small smile despite not being completely sure whether that was a good idea or not.

Bronte returned it with some hesitation. 

Emery looked down at his phone. “Oh, the Uber is here.” 

***  
Emery was in the middle of a lecture. He sat in the corner of the lecture hall where he was least likely to be noticed by any of the other students. His phone buzzed. He tried to ignore it. The phone buzzed again. And again. Emery let out a sigh and turned his phone over. It was the groupchat. 

Bronte: I got us a gig.

Well, Emery wasn’t expecting that, but it certainly was exciting.   
Kenric: !!!!

Kenric: When?

Emery: Really? Where?

He sent the text.

Bronte: City Name. At 9:30ish in two weeks.

Oralie: Isn't that a couple of hours from here?

Bronte: Yeah, we're playing at a bar, so we'll need you to be there since Kenric is twenty, and Emery and I are nineteen.

Bronte: But if you have stuff with Sophie, then obviously that matters more

Kenric: Yeah. What Bronte said.

Who was Sophie? A roommate, maybe? A while passed before Oralie finally replied again.

Oralie: No it’s fine, I’ll bring Sophie.

Bronte: Neat, is everyone okay with the time?

Emery: yeah

Kenric: Yep!!

Oralie: mhm

Bronte: great. It’s settled then, we have our first gig in two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> umm, hey folks! I know it's been a while, but I finally have some motivation (I stole it from Speens). I hope you liked this chapter. And as always, thanks to Lynn for being a brilliant beta!


End file.
